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Henry A. Waxman

As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Waxman will have a prime role in deciding two of Mr. Obama’s chief objectives: a health care overhaul and new energy legislation.

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Jason Reed/Reuters

“They are both issues that I have been involved with my whole career in Congress,” said Mr. Waxman, 69, who wrested control of the panel this year from Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan. “We might be in that unique historical moment when we can get health care for all Americans and deal finally with the energy security questions and global warming threat.”

Mr. Waxman, who represents parts of Los Angeles, spent the last two years heading the House Democrats’ oversight of the Bush administration. A formidable Congressional tactician, he supports Mr. Obama’s goals but offers no guarantee that the president will always get his way. “The president has given us his proposals,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we have to accept every one of those proposals.”